In this week’s Friday Five, MAXIMUS is reading about the looming September 30 deadline for health care legislation, calls to pronounce opioid epidemic a public health emergency, and efforts in Ohio to curtail Medicaid expansion.

The Kaiser Family Foundation[3] breaks down five ways that the Graham-Cassidy bill, widely seen as the last effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, could impact Medicaid negatively. The bill would lower and redistribute federal Medicaid funding as well as limiting on whom and how the funds can be used.

While steps have been made toward agreement on the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding, The Hill[4] reports passage still isn’t guaranteed. The program has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support, but Congress only has until September 30 to pass legislation.

Politico[5] reports the Trump administration will pay September subsidy payments due this week to insurance companies, while providing no assurances that these payments will continue. Threats to discontinue the payments have led to concerns that insurers will leave the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and most insurers must make their final decisions for 2018 next week.

In light of increasing opioid overdoses across the country, The Hill[7] reports House Democrats have requested that Trump declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. This designation would allow the government to negotiate the price of naloxone, used to treat overdoses, in hopes that more purchasers could afford to keep it on hand.

In this article from the Columbus Dispatch[8], Gov. Kasich’s administration denies claims by House Republicans used in their effort to garner support for a veto override. Kasich previously vetoed an effort to freeze Medicaid expansion enrollment in Ohio as of July 1, 2018.